Army chief visits Indian brigade that entered Dhaka in 1971

Chief of Army Staff Gen SM Shafiuddin Ahmed visited the Indian Army's 50 Independent Parachute Brigade, Wargaming Development Centre, Defence Image Processing and Analysis Centre and Indian National Defence College (NDC) in the last two days of his India visit.

He yesterday called on Lt Gen (retd) Vinod G Khandare, military adviser to the Secretariat of the State Security Council at the Office of the Prime Minister of India. There, the army chief discussed various security issues during a meeting, according to a press release from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

At the 50 Independent Parachute Brigade of the Indian Army, Gen Shafiuddin was briefed on the capabilities, activities and training of the brigade.

This brigade was the first to enter Dhaka through Tongi as a member of the Allied Forces in the War of Liberation in 1971.

Gen Shafiuddin visited the Indian Wargaming Development Centre and Defence Image Processing and Analysis Centre yesterday morning. There, he learned about the activities and technical issues of the two institutions and discussed possible areas of future cooperation, said the statement.

Later in the afternoon, the chief of army staff addressed a seminar on the India-Bangladesh Bilateral Relations, Foreign Policy and Security at the National Defence College of India.

At the end of the seminar, he answered various questions of the NDC course members during an open discussion.

The army chief is scheduled to return home tomorrow.